P.R.A.Y
PAUSE
REJOICE & REFLECT
ASK
YIELD
Personal Worship
Paul opens his letter to the Galatians by focusing their eyes on the cross of Jesus and what that means in their lives.
Together we will pray (P.R.A.Y.) each day – ‘P’: Pausing to be still as we come into the presence of the Lord. ‘R’: Rejoicing as we remember who our God is and what He has done, and Reflecting on His word. ‘A’: Asking God to help us and others. And ‘Y’: yielding to His will in accordance with His word.
As I come before you to pray, I still my thoughts and quiet my mind. I seek to make you the center of my focus.
Prayer of Approach
Lord, I approach your throne today in total confidence. I come to you confidently in prayer, not in my own merit or worth, but the only confidence I have is that Jesus, your beloved Son, suffered and died on my behalf. His blood is my access to you and it’s in his name alone that I pray.
We choose to rejoice in the power of God’s Word, with all his people in Philippians 2:1-11:
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:1-11
Today we are reflecting on the words of Scripture in Galatians 1, where we read:
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:1-10
These three short verses teach us a lot about the crucifixion. Paul specifically teaches us four things about the work of Jesus on the cross. The first is that it shows us the willingness of Jesus to go to the cross. Jesus gave himself up. Jesus gave us the most precious gift, his own life. He voluntarily went to the cross. Second, this verse shows us the purpose of the cross. A transaction took place that day. He took our sins and we receive his righteousness. All of our sins were paid for that day on the cross through the sacrifice of Jesus. His death was an atonement for all of our sins. Third, this verse shows us the effect of the cross. The effect of the cross is that we are delivered from the present evil age. The good news of the gospel is that is a rescue mission. Although we continue to live in the present evil world, the cross frees us from our sins.We no longer live under the power of evil, but Christ has set us free from that. Already, we are beginning to live the life of the age to come, when God’s will is always done. This is what Paul will point us through all throughout Galatians. That we are set free by the work of Jesus and we get to live in that freedom. Fourth, this verse shows us the origin of the cross. Christ died according to the will of our God and Father. The cross was not an accident. The cross was God’s plan for the salvation of sinners. The cross has been on God’s mind for all eternity. Take that to heart that God crucified his own son so that you could be set free from all of the weight of sin that clings so closely to you.
Jesus, show me the beauty of the cross. Let me experience the grace and peace that you purchased for me by the sacrifice of your blood.
1)Do I believe that I am sinful?
2)Would I describe this current age as an evil age? Why or why not?
3)Why is the death of Christ the only way for me to be set free?
4)Where in my life do my actions not match my beliefs? In other words, am I trying to save myself today?
Lord, I ask that you would visit your people again. I ask that you would pour out your Spirit in a supernatural way for a season of time where your glory would open the eyes of all that see it. Would you do what only you can do? Would you do what you have done before in history? Revive your Church, revive your people, and revive your world.
As I read the passage again slowly, I listen for anything that You would say to me in it. Help me see how to position my life in order to yield to your word.
Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Galatians 1:1-10
Yielding Prayer
Jesus, you gave yourself up for me. You are God who became man so that you could be crucified so that I can be set free. Let me lay down all of my sins honestly to you now so that you can set me free. Forgive me for all the times I try to earn it myself. Forgive me for all the times that I put myself back up on a cross where you already finished the work. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so I can walk in the freedom that your grace and peace bring me in my life.
Yielding Promise
And now, as I move into the day ahead, the Lord who loves me reminds me in John 6:
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
John 6:37
Closing Prayer
Lord, enable me, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to love you today with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to serve you today, by loving and caring for others as I do my own self; and, to exalt you today, by telling the people in my world about the abundant and eternal life found only through faith in Jesus.
*The P.R.A.Y. acronym has been adapted from the Lectio 365 app.